(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Elite Series pro Stetson Blaylock grew up on crystalline Lake Ouachita, so clear water doesn’t scare him. But he knows that many other anglers run from it. That’s a mistake, he said, but you have to use the right tools to be successful. It’s not about secret baits, but rather confidence baits.
“I am probably the most simple angler you will ever talk to,” he said. “My garage is not wall-to-wall-to-wall tackle like you see a lot of guys.” Instead, by keeping it simple, he keeps his baits wet. That simplicity starts with color. “I’m not a believer that color is that big of a deal. I do, however, believe that shade is a huge deal.”
In the winter, one of his key clear-water presentations is a finesse swimbait, usually fished on a 1/4-ounce jighead. It produces big fish and numbers of fish. Often the key is light line. He uses 15-pound Seaguar braid as a main line. “I want to be able to see what that line is doing,” because the strike often feels like a crappie bite. He adds a leader of 6- or 8-pound InvizX fluorocarbon, just long enough that that the knot doesn’t go into his reel.
His second choice in cold, clear water is a football jig, in some combination of brown, green and other natural strands. “I’m going to move that bait as slow as I can possibly move it,” he said, and he’ll go as light as he can while still maintaining contact with the bottom. He likes 12-pound in 30 to 50 feet of water and 15 if it’s shallower or there’s lots of heavy cover around.
His third choice is most often a lipless crankbait, which has produced some of his biggest early-season bags, especially at the lakes near his Arkansas home. Once again, he said that line size is critical in getting the bait to the right depth and eliciting the proper action. He likes 12- or even 10-pound, and noted that braid often negatively impacts the action he desires.
“A lot of times I’m fishing that bait almost like a jig or a Carolina Rig,” he said.
Once early springtime rolls around, he loves to throw a Carolina Rig. “It’s a bait that you can cover a lot of water with.” Once again, he keeps it simple, most often employing an old-school lizard – green-pumpkin or watermelon in most of the country, and purple, black or red in Florida – and a 3/4-ounce weight. He likes a main line of 20-pound fluorocarbon and a 2- to 3-foot monofilament leader. Another way in which he bucks convention is to use a 2/0 hook much of the time, not a wide-gap but rather a regular offset wide-bend. He’ll go larger at big-fish lakes like Guntersville, Fork and Chickamauga.
Of course, he also relies on jerkbaits, and one favorite is the old, large Smithwick Rogue, although he’s not beholden to any one brand, size or model.
“I’ve got a box that has every brand possible,” he said, noting that they all produce different noises, actions and amounts of flash.
If you want to learn some of the other secrets of how Blaylock attacks clear water, including his varied jig trailer choices and his options for later seasons, check out his full on-the-water video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
